Anti-racist education for a violence-free future

Dear Viva a Vida Friends and Supporters!

Since we last spoke, activities have continued apace, with theater workshops and presentations, six-monthly assessments, and a pilot Graffiti Project with young people from the Human Rights and Life Plan Workshops. 

As part of Viva a Vida’s long-term strategy to involve its young participants in the development of the NGO, we would like to share with you the experiences of Fabrício, a 21-year-old member of the V2 Theater Group, who is also Viva a Vida’s Administrative Assistant!

Fabricio was introduced to Viva a Vida two years ago by his Theater Teachers Simone Requião and Tonny Ferreira; at the time he was a member of a theater group in Itinga, a very violent, at-risk neighborhood near Vila de Abrantes.  With a change in local government, the group was closed down and its young members were left with nowhere to go, so Simone invited Fabricio and his colleagues to join Viva a Vida’s theater group.

At the time, Viva a Vida was preparing its play “Sophia’s Dream” for presentation at the National Children and Young People’s Theater Festival in Feira de Santana. However, we were still missing cast members for some of the parts.  Uniting the competence and experience of the young people from Itinga with the enthusiasm of those from Abrantes made a huge difference to the brilliance and passion they all demonstrated at the festival.

Once he was able to return to theater classes, now at Viva a Vida, Fabricio began to dedicate himself increasingly to the art he had chosen.  The V2 Theater Group not only attends theater workshops, but also takes part in exchange visits with young people, ‘laboratory’ visits to social services, round table discussions and other activities that provide a basis for the discussions presented through their performances.

With all these new experiences, Fabricio notes that many things changed in his life “So many things have changed… mainly the way I think and act.  I have good self-esteem, and I have learnt to value this… I can also say that I am an activist in support of minorities, there is discrimination everywhere, but however much I am an activist, when something happens to me or to a colleague when I am there, we still don’t react… we don’t believe that it’s really happening.. it is sad this still happens a lot in the 21^st century.  Thankfully, most of the people I live with are quite open-minded.”  Fabricio adds that this view of life has become clearer for him since he joined the group “You might think I would say this, but Viva a Vida believes and supports young people’s empowerment”.

In relation to Viva a Vida’s work in LGBT rights, he notes that “it is always good to take part in debates run by the group Families for Diversity, since, however much time I spend in the LGBT environment, I can always learn more and help to deconstruct the opinions and labels imposed by others.” Following the Families for Diversity debate at Viva a Vida’s center, Fabricio was responsible for representing Viva a Vida when the group made a presentation at the State College of Vila de Abrantes (see our other activities below).

While Fabricio was still in Itinga he was studying at night and, with no theater group, did not have much to do during the day. He lived with his father and was looking for work in order to contribute to the household income.  In this sense, another aspect that has had a great influence on Fabricio’s life, is the fact that he has entered the world of work.  His first employment opportunity emerged when Viva a Vida asked him to join its team as an intern and later as our Administrative Assistant, a post he has occupied for 18 months.

“Thanks to the project, I gained employment within the NGO, which is very flexible in terms of the theater classes… I have had the opportunity to join Viva a Vida’s team and help the project from behind the scenes. It is important that the young people see how important this work is.”

Despite being a young beneficiary, we conducted the selection process as we would for any other post, and saw that Fabricio had the qualities required.  Today, under the supervision of our Administrative Coordinator, he carries out tasks in relation to accounting, administrative and external duties.  He has also contributed a great deal to our Communication activities and is responsible for updating social networks and preparing communication materials for publication.  Fabricio was almost entirely responsible for putting our new website online; without him we still wouldn’t have this extremely important means of communication!

Furthermore, some of you will know that in recent months we have started running Cine Viva a Vida, an open door activity for young people in Abrantes.  Today, Fabricio is responsible for mobilizing participants, preparing communication materials, choosing films and accompanying this activity. For us, this shows how far he has come and how much he has had to offer us in just 18 months!

The experience Fabricio has acquired has given him the maturity to represent the Association in extremely important arenas, such as municipal councils and schools, and wherever Viva a Vida needs to be represented.

All his involvement in administration is reflected in how he interacts with our other beneficiaries.  The other  students recognize him as a role model and are able to see that through a well-developed life plan they can get involved in other arenas, achieve their first job and still continue to dream and work through art.

Fabricio is another fantastic success story, through which we can both see a young person able to dedicate themselves to their art and witness Viva a Vida fulfilling its social role and strengthening its philosophy to develop its beneficiaries so that they can work in partnership with us to manage and run the organization!

Other activities from this period include: 

• We have started a new project Vila Jovem Grafitta – street art for social mobilization (see photo).  This project teaches a range of art techniques and promotes artistic endeavors to support income and employment, develop skills and address issues such as human rights and racism.  So far, 20 young people from Vila de Abrantes have participated in this project, which will culminate in a community event.
• A garden presentation of the V2 Theater Group’s devised play ‘Independence’.  We received more than 50 audience members from the community who watched play and got involved in a debate about homophobia, teenage pregnancy, racism and violence.  The play is a montage based on laboratory and exchange visits undertaken by the group, directed by their teacher Simone Requião.  One audience member cried as she reflected on the experience, “the scene with the pregnant girl, I went through this, but I have tried to treat my daughter differently”.
• Viva a Vida’s partner Families for Diversity held a round table discussion about LGBT-phobia at the State College of Vila de Abrantes, debating, informing and explaining! This activity was attended by 40 young public school students and Viva a Vida was represented by Fabricio (see above).
• Cine Viva a Vida received ten young pupils from the Municipal School Marina da Gloria, located very close to our center, to watch the film ‘Leap’, as part of our strategy to open our doors to the community.
• Our External Consultant, Mara Vanessa, conducted focus groups with more than 50 students to assess Viva a Vida’s work over the first semester.  As always, the results surprised us with the quality of responses and the impact on the students’ lives. The Life Plan and Human Rights workshops change young people’s perceptions and enable them to deal with the challenges that life presents them. Our evaluations demonstrated that, following the workshops, 86% felt strengthened and empowered to deal with prejudice and other rights violations.
• Viva a Vida participated in Global Giving’s International Youth Week Campaign, collecting donations and Facebook likes to support our long-term sustainability.  Huge thanks to all of you who took part and donated so generously!
• We attended in Camacari’s 8^th Municipal Social Care Conference, in order to assess and support local social care policies and raise awareness of how Viva a Vida and other NGOs contribute to this work.
• On 26^th August we invited all young people involved in Viva a Vida activities to attend a Big Get Together Event at our center and, with our President and team members, to develop a new Viva a Vida BATTLE CRY! We will share the final product with you in our next report.

Links:

• Press coverage - garden performance of Independence